Waldron v. Commerce Union Bank

577 S.W.2d 669, 1978 Tenn. App. LEXIS 275
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedAugust 25, 1978
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 577 S.W.2d 669 (Waldron v. Commerce Union Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Waldron v. Commerce Union Bank, 577 S.W.2d 669, 1978 Tenn. App. LEXIS 275 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1978).

Opinions

OPINION

LEWIS, Judge.

This is an appeal by plaintiffs-appellants, Abbie P. Waldron and Phoebe P. Davis, Co-Conservators of Phoebe T. Peay, from the dismissal of their suit against defendant-appellee, Commerce Union Bank.

We adopt the first 16 paragraphs of the Chancellor’s excellent memorandum which succinctly set out the facts:

“In this case the conservators of Phoebe T. Peay, an incompetent, have sued Commerce Union Bank contending that the bank is liable for releasing the corpus of a trust to Mrs. Peay. The bank contends that since Mrs. Peay was both the grantor and the beneficiary, she had absolute control over the corpus and could dispose of it as she saw fit. The resolution of the controversy centers around the effect of a letter, signed by Mrs. Peay, and attached to the trust instrument, which directed that the bank allow no withdrawals from the corpus of the trust unless approved by either one of Mrs. Peay’s daughters, Abbie or Phoebe.1
“Mrs. Peay had inherited securities valued at slightly over $100,000.00. In March 1974, due to her inexperience in financial matters and her family’s long-standing relationship with Commerce Union (her father was a bank director), she created a revocable trust with Commerce Union as the trustee and herself as the beneficiary. The instrument is a brief standard form document prepared by the bank, and it provided that the bank would invest her funds and pay the income to her. She had absolute power to terminate the trust at any time she desired.
“Mrs. Peay had a history of alcoholism and within a few weeks after creating the trust she disappeared and was later found intoxicated in New Orleans, having paid a Nashville Cab driver to transport her. She was returned to Nashville where she spent a month in Madison Hospital. Two of her daughters, Abbie and Phoebe, now her conservators, filed a petition in Probate Court to have Commerce Union appointed her conservator. On the day of the hearing, the daughters withdrew the petition and no [671]*671conservator was then appointed. On that date the daughters met for the first time Kirk Scobey, the bank trust officer who supervised Mrs. Peay’s account, and made arrangements to meet with him to learn more about their mother’s trust.
“The meeting occurred at the bank on June 12, 1974 with Mrs. Peay, her two daughters, and Scobey present. What transpired is in dispute. According to Abbie, she and her sister were concerned about the possibility of their mother squandering her money since she had spent $5,000.00 on her New Orleans outing. Abbie had prepared a power of attorney to be executed by her mother and took it to the bank for the meeting to inquire of Scobey if the giving of the power of attorney to Abbie would have the effect of allowing Abbie and her sister control over the withdrawal of trust funds by Mrs. Peay. Abbie and Phoebe are positive that Mrs. Peay’s alcoholism was discussed at the meeting and it was explained to Scobey that Mrs. Peay needed protection from her own indiscretion. Sco-bey, according to Abbie, advised that the power of attorney would not have the desired effect and he prepared another document for Mrs. Peay to execute. That letter, signed by Mrs. Peay, stated as follows:
Commerce Union Bank Nashville, Tennessee
Re: Tr. U/A Phoebe T. Peay
Gentlemen:
With regard to my Trust, dated March 15, 1974, with you, I direct you to pay income monthly and send such checks to 3610 Hewlett Court, Nashville, Tennessee 37211. I further direct that you allow no withdrawals from the corpus of this Trust unless such is approved by Abbie P. Waldron or Phoebe Peay Davis.
/s/ Phoebe T. Peay
Phoebe T. Peay
“Abbie and Phoebe insist that Scobey advised them that before Mrs. Peay could withdraw trust corpus, she would have to have the signed approval of both daughters. He told them they were wise to have Commerce Union remain as a trustee because as a corporate, non-family entity, the bank could easier resist Mrs. Peay’s attempts to withdraw funds should she resume her abusive drinking habits and seek to make withdrawals. Scobey, according to the daughters, said nothing about the trust being revocable at the will of Mrs. Peay. The two young women, both in their 30’s and not knowledgeable about such matters, testified that they left the bank secure in the knowledge that their mother’s money would be safe from her own indiscretion.
“Scobey’s recollection of the meeting differs substantially from that of the daughters. He testified that he first explained to the daughters the nature of a ‘grantor trust,’ the duties of the trustee, and the fact that it was a devise to utilize the bank’s common trust fund to provide income for Mrs. Peay. He has no recollection of any discussion of Mrs. Peay’s chronic alcoholism and is confident that he would recall such conversation if it had occurred. Had there been any intent to amend the trust instrument and make it irrevocable, then a formal amendment would have been required and it would have to have been executed by Mrs. Peay and the bank. Scobey has no recollection of being asked by Abbie if the power of attorney she drafted would tie up Mrs. Peay’s funds.
“Scobey’s dominant recollection of the meeting is that Mrs. Peay was about to move into a duplex adjoining Abbie and that she wanted her daughter to look after her affairs and to be aware of what she was doing with her money. Even though the letter he drafted for Mrs. Peay says that the bank is directed ‘to allow no withdrawals from the corpus of this trust unless such is approved by Abbie P. Waldron or Phoebe P. Davis,’ Scobey states that the purpose of the letter was simply to insure that the daughters would be advised if Mrs. Peay were to make a withdrawal.
“Scobey acknowledges that he knew about the New Orleans ‘drinking junket’ and the Madison Hospital stay, but he did not know Mrs. Peay had a history of prior drinking problems and knew of no urgency about the drinking, especially in light of the [672]*672withdrawal of the conservatorship petition on the day of the hearing. In his many conversations with Mrs. Peay after June 12, he states that he never had one with her during which she appeared to be intoxicated.
“A power of attorney was prepared and executed by Mrs. Peay at the June 12 meeting. It directs that the daughters close her personal bank accounts and deposit all monies into a joint account in their names. It states that the daughters are to manage any and all monies payable to Mrs. Peay or due her through ‘contracts, agreements, dividends and trusts.’ (Ex. 2). The daughters then established what they term a ‘power of attorney account’ in which they deposited income from a trust different from the one involved in this suit. The daughters then began to pay her bills and give her a weekly allowance.
“As contemplated, Abbie and Mrs. Peay occupied adjoining units in a duplex on Faulkner Drive. By July, Mrs. Peay had resumed her drinking and began associating with a collection of undesirable characters. Abbie moved out of the duplex and from time to time attempted to check on her mother, but was usually forced to leave her mother’s apartment by one of the rogues at Mrs. Peay’s.

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Bluebook (online)
577 S.W.2d 669, 1978 Tenn. App. LEXIS 275, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/waldron-v-commerce-union-bank-tennctapp-1978.